Broken Wings
by IndieWrites
Summary: The 9 tails seal is breaking, and an execution order is handed down upon Naruto- to be carried out by Sasuke. Unwilling to comply, and only having a year to find a solution, Sasuke searches for the one person who can help- Itachi. SIN pairing


Disclaimer: Naruto and his universe belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Believe it! Things would be very different if I owned them.

A/N: I adore this universe. There is so much 'scope for the imagination.' And a great place to play and try out new things. Which this plot line will do for me. I'm beyond nervous to try it out, but this plot is so very horribly addicting, and literally has invaded my dreams more than once. It _must_ be written! I'm not abandoning my HP ficts, just stretching my boundaries.

Warnings: It's me... *grins madly* Expect angst, drama, language, some fluffy moments and violence. And new!- slash threesome pairing- SIN. Although I won't be touch the incest part so much as Naruto needing both Itachi and Sasuke. Slow moving romance between main characters and citrus eventually. Other warnings may apply later on. Rating will certainly be firm.

If any of this bugs you... move along. I will not take kindly to flames.

Dedicated to **Daydreamer79** and **general16** who both encouraged me to take the leap in to SIN!

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><p><strong>Broken Wings<strong>

_~Prologue~_

"How long?" Naruto asked, his head bowed with an unseen weight. His shoulders drooped and his body slumped dejectedly. Tsunade bit her lip and looked away.

"Naruto..."

"_How long?"_ he hissed, raising his head swiftly and pinning her with his blue eyes, alight with an inner fire.

She shook her head. "A year, maybe eighteen months, if you're lucky and drop out of any missions above a C-rank."

Naruto nodded, silently.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

"Don't." It came out quietly, but the anguish in his tone was loud and clear. "Don't apologize, Tsunade."

She blinked rapidly. Naruto never spoke her given name, preferring his rather unorthodox method of nicknames. She found now that she missed the term of endearment, however insulting it seemed.

"And the council?" The question, although not unexpected, was not one she wanted to answer. She shook her head again and he knew she wouldn't tell him. She was waiting for someone, or something.

Silence reigned throughout the room for several moments, thick with too many emotions. Neither knew what to say, if there were any words that could possibly make the situation any better. A firm knock sounded, shattering it. A masked head appeared from the open doorway.

"Hokage?"

She cast a glance over to the stiff form of Naruto and inclined her head slightly. The ANBU silently came into the room and dropped to one knee in respect. "You requested my presence?"

Naruto's golden head whipped around, his eyes, empty, flared a moment as his gaze fell upon the bowed form.

"What's _he_ doing here?" he ground out.

Tsunade ignored her favorite person, turning her attention to the ANBU. "Stand and remove your mask," she directed. The man did so, revealing pale skin and blackish blue hair still in its customary spikes. His blacker than black eyes flickered emotions as he looked between his former best friend and his leader.

"Uchiha," Naruto snarled, not bothering to hide the disgust in his voice.

"Naruto," Tsunade warned, before glancing back to Sasuke. "What is said in this room is not to be revealed to anyone," she commanded, the tone in her voice brooking no argument. Not that she would get one from the stoic Uchiha heir. She doubted the news she was about to reveal would get a reaction in reality.

He gave no answer; the command was understood as a given. He waited quietly, trying his best not to look at the angry Uzumaki standing beside him. The atmosphere in the room was one of anxiety, heavy and palatable. He felt almost suffocated by it, and worked to control his breathing.

"You ready?" she asked quietly, turning her attention back to Naruto. He nodded slightly, his eyes focused upon a point on the wall behind her head. Already she could see him building up his walls, placing the bright, sunny young man far away from them all. She took a deep breath, wanting to stall as long as she could, knowing it would be useless in the end. She never thought she would have to do this.

"Naruto Uzumaki, the council has proclaimed an order for your execution to be carried out a year hence," she said, trying to keep the trembling out of her voice. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the blanched face of Sasuke, before he controlled his features. Naruto's fists clenched, his nails digging into the palms of his hands and drawing blood from the minute cuts. His breathing was a bit harsher, the sound echoing around them. "Sauske Uchiha will carry out the sentence, with the complete obliteration of the Kyuubi no Kitsune and its seal. If, for any reason, the seal should break before October 10th of next year, the orders are amended to an immediate execution. As you are not a criminal, you may retain your full privileges within the village including shinobi rank, with the knowledge that you have the right to appeal. However, you are required to check in once a week, unless on a mission. You will also be moving into the Uchiha estate where Sasuke will act as your supervisor."

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but shut it quickly with a look from Tsunade. His eyes, bright moments before, blanked. His face evened out, his emotionless mask back in place.

Sasuke, on the other hand, could not quite do the same. His face paler than usual, his eyes staring in disbelief at the Hokage. "What?" he questioned, his voice a mere whisper.

Tsunade sighed, ignoring him for the moment. "Do you understand the terms, Uzumaki?"

Naruto blinked once, twice. "Yes, Hokage. I wish to invoke my right..."

It happened so fast, neither were sure what happened. Sasuke's gloved hand pressed tightly over Naruto's mouth, stopping the words from being said. Tsunade shot to her feet, her face drawn in a worried look. "Uchiha!"

"Don't say it, Naruto," he growled.

Blue eyes narrowed and Naruto ripped his face away from his former friend, his mouth pulled back in a snarl. "What the hell?" he shouted.

"Don't."

Shrugging off the restraining hands, the blond glared at the black hair man, then held out his hand toward Tsunade. "Mission," he demanded.

Tsunade stared, dumbfounded, at the two, the heat and anger between them tangible. She reached down and grabbed a scroll, glancing at it in passing. "Rank S, two weeks. Details are in there."

He nodded swiftly, then slide his mask back over his face. Without another word or look, he vanished from the room.

Oppressive silence followed for a few minutes. "I..." Sasuke, began, still processing everything. "Are you sure?" he finally said.

"The seal is breaking. It has been for years. But the final blow was his fight with Pein. Losing complete control like he did, even with the resealing and interference from the 4th still took a terrible toll on his body. He's been careful... hell he hardly ever uses the fox's chakra. But..."

"It's not enough," Sasuke concluded. "Has this always been the known outcome?"

The Hokage dipped her head, feeling the weight of her age and the horrible decisions she had made in her time as leader. "Each time the chakra invades his system, whether for combat or healing purposes, a bit of his life is drained away as compensation."

Sasuke frowned. "But Kyuubi and Naruto, aren't they intertwined? If he dies, doesn't the fox?"

Riffling through the stack of papers on her desk, Tsunade paused. "Not exactly. In the moments after his death, the seal will be erased, allowing for Kyuubi to escape. However, the demon will be extremely weak for a bit, until he can gather enough strength to find another host. The sealing damaged him, diminishing his original form. He will no longer be able to live as other demons can. He will have to have a host to continue living."

"And this matters to me how?" Sasuke sneered. Tsunade rolled her eyes. Seriously, the boy could be terribly dense.

"The Sharrigan, Sasuke. You have the power to enter Naruto's inner world, right? Didn't you say you had done so before?"

Sasuke nodded, recalling their confrontation at Orochimaru's. Realization dawned on him and he shook his head rapidly. "You want me to go inside him and destroy that beast, don't you?"

The blonde head bowed and Tsunade sighed. "It's the only way. We will have a limited amount of time, and you are the only one who can do it." Her shoulders drooped.

"I won't do it," Sasuke said harshly. Tsunade lifted her head, her eyes cold.

"You don't have a choice, Uchiha. Or would you rather your friend suffer? Because he will, in a very painful and agonizing way. It would be a merciful thing for you to kill him."

Black met umber in a hard stare. "I'm not the only one with the Sharriagan."

"Kakashi only has one. Yours is more advanced as well."

Shaking his head, Sasuke ran a hand through his locks. "No, I wasn't referring to Kakashi."

Frowning, Tsunade cocked her head. "Madara's dead. Itachi, too."

"No, he's still alive."

"What?"

"Itachi is still alive," Sasuke repeated.


End file.
